As students around China begin a new semester this autumn, many schools are preparing interesting first classes for them. Some schools are holding "First Writing" ceremonies, while others are inviting academicians to give lectures. CCTV prepared a new edition of its classic program "First Lesson" for students to watch on the first day of the semester.

Coinciding with the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the program was themed "My national flag, I am proud of you" and featured speeches about the flag, telling historical moments when it was raised in the past 70 years.

Have you ever seen the national flag like this?

Guo Dexian, 95, gleefully unfurled a red flag with a big star in the middle and four stars at the corners. The unique red flag is a replica made by the "First Lesson" program team after contacting Baigongguan – a concentration camp opened in 1945 southwestern city of Chongqing where Guo, a communist-led revolutionary, was imprisoned before liberation.

The story of the flag's embroidery, which comes from the real experiences of Guo and others in the camp, plays an important role in the classic novel "Red Crag."

"We used our quilts for making the flag, and we didn't know back then how the red stars were designed to be arranged," Guo said with excitement.

This is the first story about our national flag. It reminds us how hard it is to live a good life today.

National flag flying at the summit of Mt. Qomolangma

At 8,600 meters above sea level on the northern slope of the world's highest peak Mt. Qomolangma, there is a 30-meter high, almost vertical cliff. In 1975, Chinese climbers erected a metal ladder there that was nicknamed the "Chinese Ladder."

Not only did the "Chinese Ladder" help Chinese climbers reach the summit, it also helped more than 1,300 climbers from all over the world realize their Qomolangma dreams until 2008. The story was told by a man who helped build the ladder, Xia Bohan. He lost both of his legs during that mission. According to Xia, the first ladder was actually a human one.

In 1960, when the Chinese team first climbed Mt. Qomolangma, they had to step on each other's shoulders to reach the top because of a lack of resources. 

It was 4:20 a.m. on May 25, 1960, when the national flag of the People's Republic of China was seen fluttering above the world's highest peak for the first time.

Yan Dong, a member of the PLA Navy who serves on the Chinese missile destroyer the Haikou, hugged his two daughters on the stage of "First Lesson." It was only the 12th time in five years that the sailor has time with his family.

In the past 14 years, the Haikou has covered 340,000 nautical miles in the waters off Asia, Africa and the Americas, repelled armed pirates and protected hundreds of Chinese and foreign merchant ships.

Yan, like many other members of the PLA Navy, devoted his youth and sacrificed time with his family to protect people and guard the country. The five-star, red national flag of China provides a sense of security for ships traveling on the high seas.

Special flags shine on the Moon

The lander of China's Chang'e-4 probe and Yutu-2 moon rover took photos of each other on January 11, 2019, marking a successful Chinese mission to the far side of the moon.

In the picture, against the backdrop of the vastness of space and the surface of the moon, the Chinese national flag stands out brightly. The flag went through twists and turns on its way to shining on the moon's surface.

With no air and no atmosphere to protect them, Chang'e-4 and Yutu-2 are completely exposed to ultraviolet radiation.

In order to keep the flag's from fading, the Chang'e research team managed to find suitable materials and techniques to enable the withstand harsh environmental conditions through numerous simulation and experiments.

They eventually matched the colors to perfectly display what is called the "Chinese red" and "Chinese yellow" on the far side of the moon.

(Top image designer: Du Chenxin)